After 41 years, island in Sulu to get town hall
WELCOME TO THE MAYOR’S OFFICE | The bed of Mayor Hadar Hajiri in Lugus, Sulu, sits beside the table of the Office of the Mayor in this photo taken on June 10, 2022. Hajiri’s house serves as the town hall in the absence of a municipal building. (BONG S. SARMIENTO / Inquirer Mindanao)
LUGUS, Sulu, Philippines — For years since he assumed power, Mayor Hadar Hajiri has been literally working from the confines of his bedroom in this island town.
The table where he signs documents for the Office of the Mayor and the bed where he sleeps are only inches away from each other, separated only by a capiz shell partition.
“For 41 years, Lugus never had a municipal hall,” said Hajiri, the town mayor since 2016. “When I assumed office as mayor, I utilized my house as a municipal hall,” he told reporters recently inside his office-cum-bedroom. He explained that the rest of the rooms of the house he also used for the other departments.
But this unusual arrangement will finally be over as the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) sets aside P25.75 million for the construction of the town’s municipal hall.
A fifth-class municipality of 23,000 people carved out of the nearby and much older Tapul island town, Lugus is one of the towns identified by the BARMM’s Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG) to be prioritized for such a facility in line with the agency’s efforts to improve the functionality and performance of local government units (LGUs).
Bangsamoro Interior and Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo visited Lugus during a five-day swing in the provinces of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu, coinciding with the inaugural Cotabato-Tawi-Tawi flight on June 9. The twice-weekly flight (Monday and Thursday) is serviced by flag-carrier Philippine Airlines.
Sinarimbo said his office went “down to the last communities in the region to let the local officials and their constituents feel the regional government is working for them.”
Extra steps
He said the needs of LGUs in these two provinces, given their distance from the regional government center in Cotabato City, would now be easier addressed with the Cotabato-Tawi-Tawi flight. From Bongao, the capital of Tawi-Tawi, Sinarimbo’s team visited several island municipalities in the province and in Sulu either to break ground or inspect ongoing projects of the MILG under the Local Government Facilities Development (LGFD) and the Bangsamoro Local Economic Support Services (BLESS) programs.
During the Tawi-Tawi and Sulu trip, the MILG handed out checks or inspected ongoing construction projects amounting to P592.25 million, including municipal halls, public markets, barangay halls, police stations and desalination facilities.
“The LGUs understand what their needs are,” he said. “They’re willing to engage the regional government about their needs and they have high hopes these [needs] will be addressed. The regional government will take the extra step to accommodate their legitimate needs,” said Sinarimbo, also the BARMM spokesperson.
Hajiri, who is in his third and last term, received a check for half of the P25.75 million for the construction of their municipal hall. The rest of the amount will be released once key construction milestones are achieved.
“We are thankful to the BARMM government for this municipal hall,” Hajiri said, adding the MILG also committed to funding the construction of their police station and two barangay halls.
The municipal hall is expected to be completed in one year.
Design concept
Architect Gloryrose Dy-Metilla, a consultant of the MILG for the design of the municipal and barangay halls, said the distinct cultural identity of the Bangsamoro formed part of the inspiration in designing the architecture of the facilities.
“We want to showcase the rich heritage of the Bangsamoro and, in effect, preserve their diverse culture and tradition through these buildings for the world to appreciate,” she said.
Since 2021, the Bangsamoro government has targeted the construction of 220 barangay halls, 21 municipal halls, 26 public markets, and 12 level 2 water systems. It has also installed 14 desalination machines, among others, under the MILG’s LGFD and BLESS programs.
The Bangsamoro region was established in January 2019 following the ratification of Republic Act No. 11054, or the Organic Law for the BARMM. The region is composed of the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato; and 63 barangays from six towns in Cotabato province.
The BARMM’s creation has been anchored on the Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro signed by the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in 2014 after 17 years of negotiations.
The Bangsamoro government is governed by the MILF-led interim Bangsamoro Transition Authority, whose mandate has been extended for three more years from 2022 to 2025.
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